Monday, July 25, 2011

Toyota wants to steer for you

Toyota recently demonstrated an accident-avoidance system that not only brakes for you, but steers for you too. It uses a series of sensors hooked up to its onboard computer to determine if you're about to be involved in an accident. It then takes control of the steering and brakes and attempts to avoid the accident for you.The key word there is "attempts". This is another in a long line of R&D projects that we don't want and don't need. This constant dumbing-down of everything is going to be the death of our civilisation. If this technology becomes commonplace, then drivers will have even less reason to concentrate whilst driving, and there will be even more accidents. Remember, computer systems are not infallible. If there's a bug in the code, and during the attempt to avoid what it "thinks" is an impending accident, your car actually causes another one, then the lawyers will get involved and everyone will pay.Why don't Toyota spend this money on driver education instead? Driving schools, safety programs, driver education and other such things? Surely it's better to attempt to treat the cause of the problem rather than the symptoms?And for those who relish the idea of their vehicle driving itself, here's a suggestion: use a taxi, bus or train. They exist right now.Toyota wants to steer for you.